“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. — Charles Dickens” — Ben Tompkins

This is a heavy one, but this is my story, and I have a right to tell it. So, here we go. Welcome to the Thanksgiving Special, my friends 🥳

I introduce this therapy session with two pieces of wisdom from Anne Lamott and Dax Shepherd that continue to give me the power, strength, and courage to come on and be so open, honest, and vulnerable in these episodes and in and sharing these stories and reflections (3:26). 

After setting up some brief framework of my family structure and family history (13:12), things really begin to take off with the official christening of the Thanksgiving Special. 

So, Gather ‘round my friends… it’s story time 📖

The best of times: I’ve got stories about a banger of pool parties I hosted (32:08), beer pong tournaments (47:49), playing Uno in the club and ripping Kanye West’s Gold Digger at The After, Pueblo Bonito’s nightclub/karaoke bar (1:26:03), solo trips to waterfalls, meeting lifelong friends and audio from TikToks, and getting to vibe with allll the animals (1:33:14) 🥰

The worst of times: dealing with the first person I met and the first exchange I had leaving Louisville’s SDF airport (that I’ve grown used to now) and why my response to the situation had this grown man absolutely shook (19:03), getting stranded for hours while no one was allowed to use one of the TWO rental cards to pick me up from the pool after a good ‘ole fashioned Mexican standoff w/ my mom (37:45), a few days later, spending 6 hours in a Mexican emergency room dealing with a very scary situation where my alcohol my mom consumed left her incapacitated and how this larger pattern of behavior continues to deeply hurt me (1:03:42)… I even have a story about a woman (1:44:44) that threatened to have her child piss in my lap on our final flight back home, I shit you not! 🤣

So I’ve got all of that, PLUS: 
My rankings for the Top 3 Thanksgiving movies of all time (27:56), some real-life examples of things I did to overcome my anxiety when things could have very easily gone off the rails for me personally (58:08), but most importantly, throughout this entire episode, lots of reflection, honesty, and real talk 💯

I hope you enjoy this episode, my friends, and if you do, please take two seconds and drop me a quick rating x review on Apple Podcasts, share this episode with someone you think will connect with it, or follow along on social media @bennytomp18 or @realtalkwbennyt ✌🏼

Credit statement: Intro music is Outside by Ikson. Outro music is As It Sets by Ikson. Check out his other tracks here ➡️ https://www.iksonmusic.com

Thanksgiving Special 🦃

My show is all about the people I meet and connect with throughout my own personal growth and healing journey. 

It’s our stories, our beliefs, conversations, inspirations, flaws, flows, pains, gains, growth, lessons learned, vulnerability, and deep, intimate conversations, sometimes with total strangers. But it’s real. 

Real people, real stories, REAL 👏🏼 TALK 👏🏼

Thanksgiving Special 🦃

Real Talk with Ben Tompkins